You’ll almost always find some puppet shows as part of FringeKids! (at the Palmerston Library). This year’s entries include Handle With Care, which uses various styles of puppetry to look at environmental concerns (from July 4), and The Happiest Place On Earth, in which an orphaned girl searches for her place in the world (from July 5).
A pair of Shakespearean tales also get family-friendly puppet stagings: in Rovero And Juliet, the star-crossed lovers are a dog and a cat (from July 4), while returning fave Shakey-Shake and Friends presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream… A Puppet Epic! (pictured, from July 5).
But strictly adult shows also draw on the magic of manipulation, among them Urge For Going, in which a prairie girl hopes to follow the example of her inspiration, a well-known folk legend (from July 4 at Tarragon Mainspace), and This Play Is Like ___, in which shadow puppets, folk tales and comedy help tell a coming-of-age tale (from July 3 at Randolph Theatre).